Tom Wrigglesworth/ Wes Zaharuk/ Rudi Lickwood
16 October 2005
An intriguing night, notable for the general absence of trousers! Tom Wrigglesworth, bearing a striking resemblance to England’s Peter Crouch, compered the evening.
Canadian Wes Zaharuk shuffled on, looking like the proverbial man-your-mother-warned you-about, and seemed to play up to this image for the first couple of minutes before launching into some fantastically inventive set-pieces utilizing a range of props. He kicked off with The Incredible Floating Ball and then did some Naked Plunger Juggling, bog-roll blowing, and an amazing Mathematical Trick! This was all good stuff but Zaharuk really raised the roof with his interactive physical comedy, particularly the inept Private Investigator. Stunning work.
Dan Mitchel gave us lots of advice on how to impress women which, coming from a bespectacled, overweight epileptic, is always going to be funny. Mitchell pulled it off well with a powerful delivery, strong lines, and an uninhibited approach, which culminated in him singing an excruciating love song (a bit too long, I reckon) with his pants down. A really impressive open spot.
Rudi Lickwood was the vivacious headliner, doing material on sports, dope, haircuts, happy slapping, immigrants…. God, it was a packed set! Lickwood’s giggly, infectious style was combined with an attitude (even snooker is racist!) and an interesting background as a grandfather (since the CSA caught up with him), London’s black Santa Claus, and winner of the school’s sack race. Like the best stand-ups he also had a broader narrative, namely that we should all celebrate cultural difference (“Prince Charles knows that – he married a horse!”), particularly in the wake of 7/7. I actually met Lickwood a few years ago at a BBC Talent competition so I was really looking forward to seeing him perform at the Porter. He should have won it but the Beeb must have thought he was going to make it on his own anyway. I tried to explain to him that this was why I also missed out but he seemed skeptical to the point of contempt. Cheers Rudi!
Heckles
Wigglesworth: This mate of mine, Chris…
Heckler: (randomly) Was he a roofer?
Wigglesworth: Eh? He was in a wheelchair!
Wigglesworth: I bet you can all remember what you were doing on September 11th.
Heckler: Wanking.
Wigglesworth: Why was that any different from any other day?
…
Wigglesworth (cont.): Anyway, I was watching a video of the Kennedy assassination.
Hecker: Pervert!
Wigglesworth: I wasn’t wanking at it! Ohhh, look at that grassy knoll!!
Lickwood: (talking about crappy shoes at school) … There were no soles in them plimsoles.
Heckler: They should have called them “plim”!
Joke Competition
What’s the difference between James Bond and a shoehorn?
- One is cheesy and smooth, the other is smooth and cheesy
- I’ve never had James Bond in my ass
A difficult joke comp this week but the usual bevvy of prizes.
Matthew Alford